Kota Kinabalu: Efforts to empower women are no longer an option but a strategic necessity in building a more sustainable future for Sabah, said State Women, Health and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Julita Majungki.
She said the State Government always believes Sabah’s development cannot reach its full potential without greater participation by women in decision-making processes.
“Women today no longer play merely a supporting role in social development and family institutions. They have demonstrated their capabilities as organisational leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals, administrators, academics and influential community leaders.
“Hence, empowering women is essential to ensuring that their potential could be fully harnessed for the State’s development,” she said in her speech when officiating the 2026 Sabah Women’s Leadership Academy (AKWan) Graduation ceremony, here, Saturday. Her speech was delivered by her Assistant Minister Datuk Rina Jainal.
The event saw the graduation of 74 women from three courses.
Julita said AKWan, spearheaded by the Sabah Women’s Advisory Council (MPWS) under its initiative strategic, Global Leaders of Women @ Sabah (GLOW@SABAH) that focuses on education, economy and leadership in developing women’s potential, is in collaboration with Jhewa as the implementing secretariat to develop a new generation of knowledgeable, principled and competitive women leaders.
“The academy adopts a comprehensive approach that goes beyond imparting knowledge, but also focusing also on building character, confidence, leadership values and effective decision-making skills.
“The AKWan programme focuses on four key leadership categories — grassroots leaders, young leaders, political leaders and Government-Linked Company (GLC) leaders — allowing women’s leadership development to be carried out in a structured manner according to the needs of various sectors.
Since its implementation, AKWan has trained 479 participants through three levels of training, comprising 272 participants at the Basic Level, 123 at the Intermediate Level and 84 at the Advanced Level.
“AKWan’s comprehensive curriculum covers areas including gender perspectives in leadership, personal development, integrity, effective communication, organisational leadership, critical thinking, conflict management, strategic networking, human rights and gender, Malaysia’s and international political systems, as well as coaching and mentoring programmes.
“All these modules are structured to ensure that participants are truly prepared to lead in an increasingly challenging world,” she said.
Julita said the effort is also in line with the aspirations of the Sabah Women’s Development Master Plan 2023-2032, which emphasises women’s leadership development, greater participation in decision-making and capacity building across various development sectors.
.jpg)